Aviation Technology: Trends and Development

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The “Age of Digitalization” has significantly changed the working procedure of almost all types of organizations and industries. The aviation industry is no exception; it has also started adopting modern technology which is not surprising considering the fact that this particular industry has always kept its focus on technology for development.

The recent outbreak of COVID – 19 has created a massive impact on the aviation industry. At present, airline operators are focusing on developing different requirements such as new safety regulations due to the recent pandemic, improvement of airport safety and mitigation of security risks.

Contactless Technology – The recent pandemic has created a rapid development of implementing contactless technology to reduce interactions between staff and passengers. It has already been implemented by a few airports and airlines. Etihad Airways became the first airline to implement self-service technologies in 2020. Several other airlines like American Airlines and Japan Airlines have adopted contactless technology. Some airlines have pushed the reach of contactless technology in In-flight Entertainment (IFE) system and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model. Southwest Airlines have released a number of updates related to its IFE system. Now customers can stream inflight contents without downloading the necessary app before boarding.

Digital Health Passport – With the recent worldwide pandemic of COVID – 19, aviation industry has focused on developing technologies to ensure a safe journey. One of such technology is digital health passports for certificate of vaccination. The CommonPass Project was introduced in 2020 as a standard way for verifying vaccination records and lab results of passengers. A number of airlines such as JetBlue, SWISS and Cathay Pacific implemented this project as trial with positive outcome. Another digital health pass system has been developed by International Chamber of Commerce and is called AOKpass. The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has recently launched its own IATA travel pass to gather information on health status. The app is now available on Google Play and Apple Store. This travel pass can be considered as a global solution to the recent situation of travelling international borders.

Virtual Reality – The application of virtual reality (VR) has already been implemented in the aviation industry for training pilots and crews by creating an in-air simulation. However, the scope of virtual reality is growing significantly in the aviation industry. According to the estimation of Business Wire, market size of VR will increase from 78 million USD in 2019 to more than 1 trillion USD by 2025. Vantage Airport Group with the help of Circuit Stream has implemented an interactive training based on VR simulation that focuses on improving safety standards while reducing training time. This solution also helps in increasing knowledge retention and proves to be efficient in cost reduction. A VR training solution has been developed by Japan Airlines for developing a learning environment that would increase aviation mechanics skills and knowledge. Air New Zealand collaborating with Dimension Data has been working on developing HoloLens headsets for cabin crew. The main objective of this project is to provide passenger information through the HoloLens headset.

Automation and Robotics – Use of autonomous robots has significantly increased in recent times due to the current pandemic. Pittsburgh International Airport has adopted robots equipped with UV light technology for cleaning purposes. Incheon International Airport has adopted robots that can measure body temperatures as a safety measurement for COVID – 19 pandemic. European airports like Helsinki and Gatwick has adopted UV lightbulbs for disinfecting security trays. Qatar Airways and JetBlue have adopted a UV cabin cleaning automation system, developed by Honeywell. This system can clean cabins with the help of UV light arms instead of cleaning chemicals.

Implementation of 5G – The 5th generation wireless telecommunication system has several implications for the aviation industry. Introduction of 5g network would enable a suitable connectivity infrastructure to provide a seamless communication system between an aircraft and ground control. Inmarsat has recently announced a new project called Orchestra, a communications configuration of the future that will create an integrated network by combining GEO (geosynchronous) satellites with LEO (low earth orbit) satellites and terrestrial 5G.

With the recent development in aviation technology, there is a high demand of an efficient service provider that has in-depth knowledge about recent trends. Alpha Numero Technology Solutions, abbreviated as ANTS, is one of the leading organizations that specializes in automation engineering, cloud computing and data analytics. ANTS provides services like software solution, cloud security, artificial intelligence, network simulation and analytics.